1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a method, system, and apparatus for making 3-dimensional measurements of animate and inanimate objects.
2. Description of Related Art
The unique shapes and proportions of many animate and inanimate objects, especially animate ones with considerable variability in three dimensional space (e.g., the human form), make them difficult to accurately record for a variety of applications. For example, covering objects (e.g., clothing the human form), mapping movements of these objects (e.g., tracing a human form""s movements in three dimensional space, say while performing a sporting activity like a golf swing), and analyzing other dimensional characteristics become quite difficult.
In the area of garment manufacturing, a system exists to acquire precise measurements of the human form for use in creating customized clothing. This system requires a very expensive room be built. The room includes multiple light beam sources. A person for whom measurements are needed enters the room and is then scanned by the multiple light beams. The data gathered through this process is used to create measurements which are used in the creation of customized clothing. However, the equipment necessary to perform this procedure is quite large and very expensive, often costing in excess of $300,000 per system.
Another existing technology utilizes electro-optical sensors in conjunction with a glove that a person wears. These devices are capable of measuring flex and movement to some degree and translating it into computer usable data. However, these devices are bulky and require different sizes for different individuals.
Therefore, a method, system, and apparatus that provides a simple and cost effective way to accurately record a wide range of sizes and shapes of such animate and inanimate objects is desirable. Such a solution would open up opportunities for customized clothing, more effective kinematics training methods and a host of other applications that today are costly and only available where there are expensive facilities or limited resources.
The present invention provides an apparatus, method, and system for determining the shape of a three dimensional object. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus includes an array of sensors and elastic connections between the sensors within the array. When placed over a three dimensional object, the array of sensors conforms to the surface topology of the three dimensional object. The sensors are connected to a data processor in which the data received from the sensors is used to construct a three-dimensional representation of the actual physical three dimensional object.